Education and Anti-corruption: A Case Study

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Afghanistan continues to be ranked as one of the top ten most corrupt countries in the world.1 Methods to fight corruption are increasingly being considered in development and capacity building programming in Afghanistan and other contexts. However, to date there have been very few attempts to integrate anti-corruption in education curricula, particularly in early and mid-level education. Anti-corruption values and attitudes introduced at an early age are likely to pay dividends in the long run with the emergence of a new generation of anti-corruption citizens who stand against corrupt social behavior based on a new set of values and principles. Indeed, this argument has been put forth by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and taken up through the Anti-Corruption Academic Initiative (ACAD), launched in May 2011 by UNODC in Boston with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Northeastern University in Boston, and the International Bar Association.